Investment-management

THE DISCIPLINE OF MARKET LEADERS, Wiersema's earlier book with Michael Treacy, is still a good management and marketing text almost 10 years later. It's not very insightful, but it does present a manager with some good direction and focus when designing a management and marketing, for lack of a better word, style. THE NEW MARKET LEADERS is outdated already. The companies and ideas presented by Mr Wiersema are almost laughable in light of what has happened since this book was written. The saddest part is that the ideas themselves aren't really the problem. However, as many of the companies highlighted in the book go down the tubes, the ideas illustrated by their example become suspect. After all, the best test of good ideas is tough times not good. My advice: read DISCIPLINE OF MARKET LEADERS and skip this one.

The value of customer service is known to almost every one of us. So, what is new about this book? More detail on how to win customers in these days of fragmented markets (mass media can't help us anymore) and customer scarcity (it's really product/service glut). The author studied the best 5,000 companies in the world and came up with some valuable information that we can copy from these market leaders.

The author starts out by establishing the evaluation criteria that got a company into the study and he coins two new terms to describe these criteria - sales growth index and market value index (details of these terms on pages 7-13 of the book).

The author then summarizes the industries in which all these companies fall under - Consumer Products, Media and Entertainment, Heavy Industry, Technology Products, Technology Services, Financial Services, and Other Industries (healthcare, consumer services, and other).

A whole chapter is then dedicated to why we are feeling a scarcity of customers. The author names the reasons for this sitaution (new realities) - competitors proliferate, all secrets are open secrets, innovation is universal, information overwhelmes and depreciates, easy growth makes hard times, customers have less time than ever. He does a good job of justifying these obvious reasons with some supporting data.

So, if the new realities are that harsh, how are the market leaders managing? The author describes FOUR STRATEGIES that seem to work for these market leaders in overcoming the obvious difficulties in these days of customer scarcity. The four strategies being -

1. being the best and showing it
2. the customers who can make or break you
3. making sure customers 'get it'
4. outsized ambition.

To support why the market leaders have adopted these strategies, the author then labels all customers as falling into four categories and spends 4 chapters explaining how to work each of these groups

1. Searchers (eager to change and self-reliant)
2. Collaborators (eager to change and ready for help)
3. Streamliners (seeking stability and self-reliant)
4. Delegators (seeking stability and ready for help)

The rest of the book consists of some case studies to reinforce the above mentioned concepts and ideas. Overall, a simple book to read and valuable information considering the source data (the top 5,000 companies in the world). The criteria that the author used to come up with this list does seem reasonable. The best part of the book is that this book was originally written before the dot com bubble burst. If the author's claims are true, the companies short-listed by using his criteria survived the burst (except a small percentage attributable to other factors)! We don't know if the author's claims are true that his list didn't change much (as the book was published after the burst even though he wrote it before the burst). But if they are true, it is valuable information for any business that plans on emerging from this gloomy economy as one of the market leaders. The ideas presented meet the common sense test, so we are following these ideas quite a bit in our new company to achieve success.

The book is definitely worthwhile to look at. There are so many books in this niche (business help) that it can be overwhelming for anyone to make any sense out of this glut. But this book is really such a quick read and the concepts are so simple and small in number that I think the 2-3 hours time spent is time well spent. Good luck and I hope you get something good out of this book!

Who's winning (and why and how) in the battle for customers has never been more timely or important. Nor has it ever been tougher to document. Fred Wiersema expertly describes how today's customers are smarter and more demanding than ever, besieged by an unlimited choice of goods and services, and more than likely to take their business elsewhere unless their needs are met. He then fulfills this book's promise by naming today's new leaders and how they earned the title.

Wiersema's research tracing 5,000 companies, and his new measurement yardsticks of sales growth and market value, further enhance his premise. His examples, including Cisco, EMC, Home Depot, NTTDoCoMo, UPS, Yahoo! and others, and how these firms go about winning and keeping customers, illustrate many of the issues confronting corporate managers today worldwide. Moreover, his definition of "stretch customers" and their importance to profitable growth is a fundamental truth representing a "heads-up" to all senior executives.

Wiersema takes you down a path that leads to new perspectives on the drivers of market leadership in today's challenging global environment. He'll have you thinking differently about the essence of what makes market leaders -- and how they stay that way.

I recently saw this book on the bargain bin. This book was pure garbage, by two arrogant 20-somethings in clown suits. Basically they are saying valuations don't matter. Since they wrote the book, it has been prooven that their philosophy, approached over the long term, produces some great damaging losses. The book may be useful during the next bubble, which if history serves, will occur well after these clowns pass on to the big three-ring circus in the sky. To the dungeon with these two knaves.

This book is chock full of really bad investing advice. It's just another magic stock picking get-rich-quick strategy guide. The most disappoining aspect is the fact that they are so critical of other "Wise" men on Wall Street but push a similar active stock picking strategy of their own. They don't even run portfolios based on this strategy any more because it is so flawed!!

You'll also notice that these two fools (yes, that's a lower case "F" for all you fool.com readers) no longer even run their real money portforlios as of 02/2003. Here is CBS Marketwatch's assessment of their performance:

"Of course, one year does not a track record make. How have the Motley Fool portfolios stacked up over the 6-plus years the HFD has tracked the service? Taking into account several portfolios that it used to maintain but which were discontinued along the way, the HFD calculates that the Motley Fool produced a 1.3 percent annualized return between Jan. 1, 1997 and Jan. 31, 2003, underperforming the 3.4 percent annualized return of the Wilshire 5000 over the same period.

Furthermore, among the 98 newsletters for which the HFD has data over this 6-plus year period, the Motley Fool stands in 62nd place."

Really this book should be avoided. I was going to sell my copy used, but honestly I felt the information in this book is so bad and so dangerous to other investors that I decided to throw it out instead. That way at least I know nobody else would succumb to its fallacy of easy money. I suspect their other books aren't much better. Stay away and read books by Bogle, Larry Swedroe, William Bernstein and other advocates of passive indexing. You'll do far better.

I have been visiting the Motley Fool web site for about 2 yrs now and really like what I see! I began investing in mutual funds and thought I was doing pretty good until I read their first two books and found out I could do better investing for myself. I got out of my poor performing mutual funds and bought stocks through an online discount brokerage, which they advise for small investors such as myself. But before I bought my stocks I used their advise in researching the stocks before I bought them. Gardner brothers' best advice is to buy stock in good quality companies that are financially sound. Since I bought my first stocks I have been pleasantly surprised in the performance of my portfolio. This new book is a continuation of their philosophy in investing. Some of the techniques in evaluating a "Rule Breaking" company are definitley techniques that do not follow conventional Wisdom. But these stocks don't follow rules, they break them, and prove their FOOLISHNESS in stock price appreciation and long term value. I more enjoyed the "Rule Making" section of the book, it goes into great detail in evaluating a company for financial strength and dominance in its industry. I would give this book 4 1/2 stars (hey, there is always room for improvement). FOOL ON!

Don't confuse the TOPIC, which is very difficult for people who are unfamiliar, with the AUTHORS or STYLE.

The material can be confusing, but the authors do well with what they have. This book is far more readable than its competitors. Examples are adequate. Exercises cover all of the important issues. The study guide, a separate book, is useful if the material is still confusing.

For a technical textbook attempting to reach all audiences from the novice to the Finance professional, this book is one of the best. It does not focus so heavily on the theory and mathematical derivation as others, and yet explains the necessary background so that the student does not find Finance just a "black box." It does, however, attempt to be all things to all people. I would like to see a "concise" edition which focuses exclusively on about the first 15 or 20 chapters, but that is a problem constant with all.

I fully understand how very intelligent people who do not have advance financial training would find this book overly complicated. This is not the sort of book you read in bed -- it is a text book. But it is one the most useful on my shelf. I refer to it constantly.

I'm a former Goldman Sachs investment banker and current CEO of a technology company with a JD/MBA from NYU. This book was required reading for an advanced corporate finance class I took while in school. It is the best finance book I have ever purchased.

This is not a primer. But for those who understand DCF, optimal capital structure, capital leases and working capital management... this is your book.

As an MBA student, I have now had the opportunity to study different finance books. This is undoubtedly the best. The CD rom resources are excellent. I will certainly retain this book for refence after graduation.

Heh, a reviewer claimed that the book is out dated, and reffered to the media hyped "technology meltdown" as a reason to give up home in technology and the building of wealth through intellect. We are now 2 years into the 21st century (3 years if you think it started in the year 2000), the markets are readjusting, and technology is abounding. The "internet bubble" or "Dot Com Crash" was a cataclysm of investors and venture capitalists, smart and stupid, who got too greedy, and forgot the fundamentals of business, internet or no internet. The markets will ALWAYS naturally receed and recess after "bubbles", which is what happened. Technology, however, did and has not receeded. Wealth is being built upon the foundations of intellect, and Thurow's book shows how this is to be accomplished by analyzing all other economic revolutions and what occured to make them possible. If Thurow was giving stock predictions and analysis, and "hot picks of the week" (which he absolutely does not), then i would understand the discredit which some reviewers have given him. But this is just not the case. Thurow analyzes the wealth being generated by Global corporations, and small businesses alike through the internet. He gives examples of those who have made it to the top of the wealth pyramid. He points to revolutionary ideas and systems which have fueled economies for decades. He answers questions, he asks questions. For futurists, insight, knowlegde, and analysis of history is key. If you want to be someone who is ahead in the future, and if you want to know what it will take to grow financially in the current century, "Building Wealth" gives insights into how it has been done, and what it may take. As with all good financial books, a disclaimer: This is not going to TELL you how to get RICH. It will teach you about current debates on the direction of capitalism, and what is believed will happen in 21st century buisness. Expand your mind, expand your wealth, even if it be only a wealth of mind.

Overall, it is a fascinating read for anyone interested in economics, or how rich countries become rich. Lots of good facts which reflect on the competitive, and opportunistic capitalist paradigm we currently live in.

1) There has been significant change in the economic landscape, and that change continues to accelerate. Before the industrial revolution, 98% of the world's population had income only from farming. Now less than 2% are farmers.

2) The world is increasing a global market. Coca Cola gets 80% of its revenues from outside the United States.

3) The gap in wealth continues to widen.
- Bill Gates market value is the same as the poorest 110,000,000 Americans.
- In the United States, the average CEO pay is 212x the average worker.
- The top 1% of people in the US own 40% of the total wealth.
- Africa GDP is the same as it was in 1965. Has not changed in 35 years.

4) We are all busier. With the invention of electricity, the average hours of sleep dropped from 9 hours to 7 hours a day.

5) Old companies must destroy themselves (re-invent themselves) in order to stay competitive and grow. Also, individuals must constantly change and grow to remain competitive. If not, they will fall behind.

6) Capitalism is a tough game. The number of businesses failing (88% a year) is almost as many as new business are formed. Wealth is constantly being transferred from one group ~ to another.

7) There are many basic ingredients to create wealth. Some are cultural (like entreprenuership), some are created and enforced by the government (intellectual property, law and order, infrastructure), some are learned by the individual (skills, knowledge)

8) Each country, and region has its strengths and weakness. In order to build wealth for the future, each country must act differently:

- Japan: Clean up the banks, bring in professional management, restore government credibility, and create internal growth. Japan is too big to play the export game anymore.
- US: Break the two-tier society (rich and very poor) by improving education for more skilled workers, and investing more in infrastructure
- Europe: Encourage entrepreneurs and corporate flexibility

9) Wealth is created when there is a disequillibrium (imbalance) in technology, or society. When there is change, there is opportunity ~ because wealth is being transferred.

10) Know your weakness and go where that weakness is not important.

Overall, it is a fascinating read for anyone interested in economics, or how rich countries become rich. Lots of good facts which reflect on the competitive, and opportunistic capitalist paradigm we currently live in.

1) There has been significant change in the economic landscape, and that change continues to accelerate. Before the industrial revolution, 98% of the world's population had income only from farming. Now less than 2% are farmers.

2) The world is increasing a global market. Coca Cola gets 80% of its revenues from outside the United States.

3) The gap in wealth continues to widen.
- Bill Gates market value is the same as the poorest 110,000,000 Americans.
- In the United States, the average CEO pay is 212x the average worker.
- The top 1% of people in the US own 40% of the total wealth.
- Africa GDP is the same as it was in 1965. Has not changed in 35 years.

4) We are all busier. With the invention of electricity, the average hours of sleep dropped from 9 hours to 7 hours a day.

5) Old companies must destroy themselves (re-invent themselves) in order to stay competitive and grow. Also, individuals must constantly change and grow to remain competitive. If not, they will fall behind.

6) Capitalism is a tough game. The number of businesses failing (88% a year) is almost as many as new business are formed. Wealth is constantly being transferred from one group ~ to another.

7) There are many basic ingredients to create wealth. Some are cultural (like entreprenuership), some are created and enforced by the government (intellectual property, law and order, infrastructure), some are learned by the individual (skills, knowledge)

8) Each country, and region has its strengths and weakness. In order to build wealth for the future, each country must act differently:

- Japan: Clean up the banks, bring in professional management, restore government credibility, and create internal growth. Japan is too big to play the export game anymore.
- US: Break the two-tier society (rich and very poor) by improving education for more skilled workers, and investing more in infrastructure
- Europe: Encourage entrepreneurs and corporate flexibility

9) Wealth is created when there is a disequillibrium (imbalance) in technology, or society. When there is change, there is opportunity ~ because wealth is being transferred.

10) Know your weakness and go where that weakness is not important.

As a 401(k) Plan Manager, this book not only addresses the important advantages of why people should start thinking about investing and saving for their future at an early age, but also provides extremely useful information about the opportunities that are available to do so. "Girls Just Want to Have Funds" is written like a Cosmo article so it's easy to understand and makes learning about investing fun!

I highly recommend this book for people who don't know anything at all about money. Goodman explains:
-why we need to start working on our 401(k)s early/ then different kinds of retirement plans,
-bonds, stocks, mutual funds,
-intimidating terms like small, mid and large cap,
-why even the safest investments are more valuable than leaving
money in a savings account
-Tax implications (did you know that capital gains tax can take out 20% of your investment gains? I didn't!)
-budgeting

-benefits to 401(k)like being able to borrow against it at a lower interest rate than credit cards
-how to research the company(ies) you are interested in investing in
-And then--GASP--Goodman does not suggest that she is the alpha and omega of financial investment, she suggests other places to go to continue building your understanding of personal finances
This is only an introduction to finances. Please continue to read other books, and check out websites that update frequently. Without this book I would have never understood Suze Orman's books which I feel goes on the assumption that people are already investing (and frankly are for older people who may have family, houses and life insurance plans).
If you are an expert and understand 401ks and how to read financial reports you don't need this book. Yes the book is overly cheesy and uses way too many girly analogies, however the explanations were crystal clear and effective. It is amazing to me that the people who are criticizing this book can't even spell condescending. Open your minds. Those who didn't get anything from the book, didn't want to.

I borrowed this book upon the recommendation of a close friend (who is a girl) who was also recently interested in getting a financial life. I saw it and it's bright pink back cover and thought, "what the hell am I getting into." But I never judge a book by it's cover or it's girly title, so I went ahead and started to read it.

I've been reading it for the past day and have not been able to put it down. Guys: If you can get past a few of the girly anecdotes, and girl-talk, you can seriously learn a lot from this book. The language is easy to read and actually fun, unlike similar books on investing that I have read that have such dry language. You won't fall asleep during this read!

In late 1999 the stock market was in a hey day. I would walk into work in the morning and my supervisor would say to me, "Ron, your stock is already up three points!" Then I came across this book by Harry Dent, and I showed it to some co-workers. At the time, this book seemed to be a revelation to us.
In the early 90s, Harry Dent predicted that in the late 90s, the stock market would hit 10,000, and we would have low inflation and low unemployment. That indeed happended, so it seemed reasonable to listen to his further prognostications. In this book, he predicts that the DOw would hit 40,000 in the year 2007, followed by a sharp bear market that would last for about 10 years.
What was his basis for predicting this? Well, lets call it the "birthrate theory." Harry Dent took a chart of birthrates, shifted it by about 44 years, and saw that this chart had a strong correlation with the ups and downs of the economy and the stock market. Why shift the birth rate chart 44 years? Because that is the age by and large where people reach their peak in earning and spending. They have reached maximum productivity--they are old enough to have learned what needs learning, and young enough before the natural decline of aging. So basically, when the group of those around 44 years old increases, so goes the theory, the stock market and the economy goes up, and when the group of those around 44 years old decreases, the market and economy is in decline. Thus that "baby boom generation" when they entered their 40s, fueled the market and economic surge of the 80s and 90s. An interesting point to be made concerning Dent's interpretaion of this data is that while people conventioanlly start the "baby boom generation" from 1945, Dent starts it a couple of years earlier, and I do think he is right, the increase in birthrates started earlier than 1945.
One objection to Dent's theory that has been made--by Dr. Shiller who wrote "Irrational Exuberance"--is that why did not this demographic birthrate theory affect other asset classes, like real estate. A reply to this objection from the basis of the birthrate theory is that it has but in a different way--that since people buy homes generally when they are in thier 20s and 30s, then you should shift the bithrate chart around 30 years for real estate. And this seems to be confirmed by the experience of the 1970s, when real estates values went up when the baby boom generation was in the 20s and 30s.
A devasting objection to Dent's theory, however, is that is has been for all intents and purposes been falsified. For the market to reach 40,000 in the year 2007 from this point today, the market would have TO HAVE AN ANNUAL RATE OF RETURN OF AT LEAST 25 PERCENT FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS. The odds of that happening are astronomical and has no precedent in stock market history.
Dent had a chart showing the rates of return of the market by decade. He pointed out that while there has been two consecutive decades of above average market returns (for example, the 50s and 60s, and the 80s and 90s) there has never been THREE CONSECUTIVE decades of above average returns--but the exeception would be this time. Dent should have stuck with the decade analysis.
So it looks like that the period of 2000-2010 will be a decade of below average returns for the stock market, comparable to the 30s and the 70s.
This book has some value in that it can get one to think in broader historical terms about the markets. Part of the title of this review/essay is "but there is hope." As the decade analysis of the market shows, bear markets do not last forever, though they may last a decade, and then they are followed by bull markets. SO perhaps around the year 2010 a new bull market will begin and it would be a good time to be invested.
If one is interested in good investment advice, I have been following Bob Brinker lately. He has a radio show about investing heard on stations around the country. In early 2000 he told his listeners to get out of the NASDAQ and the market; Brinker was right in calling the top. He has not yet gone back into the market--thus avoiding terrible declines for his followers. Mr. Brinker, against the academic view, thinks he can "time" the market, and believes that one can make money on rallies in the general bear makret. He has not, at this time, yet given a signal when this "counter-cyclical" rally in the bear market will occur. Stay tuned.

Harry Dent is a bull. Hands down, gotta-own-stocks, Katie-bar-the-door bull.

If you need a shot of confidence in your battered portfolio this book will give it to you.

Dent has the economic research, the demographic data, market insights, and statistical modelling to build a very persuasive case for equities over the next 6 1/2 years, until 2009.

Be careful of the sectors you are in and keep an eye on your allocation, he warns. The markets will shift dramtically down the road. I read his book today and will be changing my asset allocation tomorrow.

Harry S. Dent makes a strong case to be bullish.

I would have liked to read a more current introduction from him in light of market and economic developments over the past two years, but his basic story has remained, largely, unchanged. 4 Stars.

As a financial professional, I am acutely aware of Harry Dent and his 'new' economic analysis framework. In The Roaring 2000s Investor, Harry makes his case for demographic driven financial markets: the Baby boomers, who are now reaching their peak spending years, will drive the market onward and upward for the better part of this decade (2000-2009). He goes on to identify his strategies for:

1. Outperforming the stock market; 2. Identifying which sectors should perform best in the coming decade; 3. Selecting a competent financial advisor;

What I found most useful was the common sense, logical approach Harry takes when presenting his case. Truly, real wealth is built not by aggressive trading but through the identification of long-term trends and investing accordingly. Harry also makes a strong case for a number of sectors that should outperform during the baby boomers reign. Other tidbits I found useful include:

1. The use of long-term data to drive nearer term investment results; 2. The use of different portfolio strategies for different times of your life; 3. The risk of modest portfolio underperformance; 4. Why today's hot stocks and funds become tomorrow's dogs.

I cannot guarantee you that following Harry's recommendations will make you "the Millionaire next Door." However, as a one-time Wall Street professional, I believe he will give you enough perspective on upcoming demographic trends to give you a realistic chance of realizing financial independence.

Side note: I have also read Harry's prior book, The Roaring 2000s. The 2000's Investor is a certain reiteration of Harry's economic views and analysis previously laid out in The Roaring 2000s, which was published in 1999 (one year prior to the 2000s Investor). The themes are the same but I believe Harry gives us more application in this newest version. Therefore, read this book and spare yourself the time of the other.

Anxiously awaited, and extremely disappointing work from the authors. Reasons:

A. Inferior content. Neither does the book present a sound theory of enterprise/ B2B software, nor does it do do justice to the intellect and experience of its authors.

For example, why should "Drum Buffer Rope" software be part of the larger enterprise system? Or why companies need enterprise software in the first place? Just because the technologies are there?

Potential readers looking for ground-breaking thoughts in enterprise management and enterprise software are advised to read following previous works by two of the book's authors: 1. "The Haystack Syndrome" by Dr. Eli Goldratt 2. "Management Dilemmas" by Eli Schragenheim

B. Defeats the purpose. Enterprise software users, enterprise software providers and management consultants all risk being led down the wrong path by following superficial advice contained in the book.

For example, isn't it impractical to ask outsiders (enterprise software providers) to ensure that the insiders (enterprise managers) create value for their organizations? Does it mean that management also can be outsourced?

C. Amateurish storyline and poor editing. At a minimum readers should not be denied the pleasure of good reading!

The only value rendered by this book is reminding managers that all their investments, even in software, should have measurable payoff.

This book has very little new material from previous TOC books. It doesn't lead the reader as well as The Goal or It's Not Luck. In short it is a "Rah-Rah" book telling the reader how great TOC is without giving much detail and in the context of a novel that doesn't create a great amount of character sympathy. I really don't understand how a man as brilliant as Goldratt could have written this. Get The Goal, It's Not Luck, and the appropriate textbook(s) to implement TOC in your business.

If you're wondering why you didn't get a powerful return on your new ERP system, read this. Just as Eli's first book, The Goal, explained why manufacturing (in the '80's) was doing so poorly, Eli and his co-authors provide an equally lucid look at why ERP systems so seldom produce the return the vendors promise. Written in a story form, it identifies the problems faced by ERP system companies, systems integrators, and of course, their clients, the manufacturing companies.

There are also glimpses of what makes advanced planning and scheduling important, an interesting way of developing a pull-based supply chain, and a VERY interesting perspective on getting supply chain partners to collaborate. The book is not meant as an exhastive reference, but only a means to get you to think. It succeeds.

I would have given it 5 stars, but there are too many typos, and I think they could have gone more deeply into many of the subjects they brushed over. It would have been more satisfying to have a little more depth at the expense of breadth.

This is a well-informed and very readable book on the informational value of the financial markets. However, this is not a how-to book on stock picking. What Mr Insana is concerned with in this book is not so much what price movements can tell us about an individual stock, but the macro information that the financial markets can tell us about the economy, geopolitics, major news events etc. There's almost no advice on individual stock picking based on price movements (too noisy), but there are advices on how to choose a job, time the purchase of a new home, move cash in and out of the market etc. based on the message of the markets.

In retrospect, some of the messages from the markets identified in the book are quite prescient. A good example is the rapid deterioration in the A/D line at the height of the Internet bubble. Of course that phenonmenon did not go unnoticed by the market pros. I clearly remember numerous analysts assuring viewers on CNBC that the stock market was not over-valued (and therefore in no danger of collapsing) because so many stocks were in the doldrums!

The book was filled with anecdotes about how major economic and geopolitical events (from Fed rate cuts to border wars between Egypt and Libya) are foreshadowed by unexplained market movements. Had Mr. Insana focused on the rationale behind these movements his argument would've been a lot more convincing. Instead, the book had a tendency to ascribe a sort of magical, oracular power to the market and the "smart money" that makes the market. Of course the real reason is a lot more mundane. Sometimes it's rampant insider trading (as in the oil futures mkt). At other times anyone who has bothered to read a newspaper would have seen it coming from a mile away. A good example is the collapse of the Thai baht. Any regular reader of the Far Eastern Economic Review would not have needed the markets to send a msg - for months the magazine was filled with dire warnings of imminent collapse in its op-ed pages.

Another issue that Mr. Insana did not address is the very important question of how to separate the signal from the noise emanating from the market 24 hours a day. As someone who had (foolishly) dabbled in the futures market, I know first hand that wild swings in the market can be triggered but nothing more dramatic than a 1/2-hr T-storm in downtown Chicago. (I always susepct that if I wait at a 2nd fl. window at the CBOT and sprinkle water on the head of a particular trader as he leaves the building, I can make a killing in soybeans.) In the days of old when the market was almost the exclusive domain of the Smart Money in the know, the msg. of the mkts was probably a lot more reliable than today, when the unwashed masses can steamroll the smart money based on the most ludicrous rumor posted on Pump-n-dump.com. How to separate the grains from the chaff is something we'll have to leave to another CNBC author.

BTW, there really is a web site called pumpanddump.com.

Those other reviewers (as well as CNBC, Amazon and financial experts) are right. SIMPLE MONEY SOLUTIONS by Nancy Lloyd (a Federal Reserve Board economist who I see frequently on CNBC and read in the New York Times Sunday Business) and this book by Ron Insana are all I needed to finally make sense of my personal finances and begin making good investment decisions for my personal portfolio as well as my 401(k) plan.

By using the outstanding, original and easy-to-follow advice in these two books my net worth has actually risen into the high six (6) figures!!! Not bad while the market is stagnating or dropping.

My friends, whose portfolios have been plunging in value, are in awe of my newfound financial savvy and skyrocketing bottom line.

And I owe it all to the information I picked up in these two incredible books. Ron and Nancy should patent this advice. It beats anything I've read elsewhere.

CNBC anchor Ron Insana's second book on the stock market, "The Message of the Markets," follows "Traders' Tales" in 1996, and does an excellent job of selling you on the idea that the market does send signals for anyone who's interested in looking for them. Using Insana's words, "Many times the prices of stocks, bonds, and commodities accurately anticipate or forecast future events. "But what is a "market?" If a market is where buyers and sellers come together and agree to exchange assets - stocks, bonds, futures, options, wheat, oil, gold, cloth, Beanie Babies, guns, drugs, etc., then the "message" of the market has to be the PRICE resulting from that exchange. That price level conveys enough information that if you know what you are looking for, you will be able to anticipate future events solely on the basis of price and its trend. Why? Because there is what Insana calls "smart money" and "dumb money."Smart money belongs to insiders, those closest to the action who see and know what is happening. They act on their knowledge, leaving their tell-tale footprints of transaction prices for all to see. Then there are the outsiders; the ones who wake up one morning and read about something that just happened, realize that it is significant, and decide to catch the obvious trend already in progress, invariably buying from those same insiders who got in months ago anticipating exactly that outcome. What Insana doesn't say is that without smart money to indicate the way, all markets would be chaotic, panic-driven price spikes in either direction as everybody tried to react to the same thing at the same time. He is particularly correct when he warns to watch out for the price move "with no apparent reason." It can signal momentous events on the horizon.The real message of the book thus becomes that if you learn to track where the "smart money" is going, then in addition to profiting along with the insiders on the various price moves, you can also make more intelligent business, investment, and career decisions. Insana uses the interest rate yield curve as well as popular averages to predict the onset of recessions; market internals (Advance/Decline Line, diverging Dow Jones Averages, etc.) to predict the stock market; and commodity price movements to predict geopolitical events.
He gives industry/sector group relative strength rotation credit for frequently predicting the economy's strengths and weaknesses and cites ways in which this can be used in selecting career paths as well as suggesting business trends. He uses commodity price moves as signals that foretell future events such as Chernobyl, the Gulf War, the Egypt-Libya potential war, and other geopolitical upheavals.  However, I believe he makes too much of the market selling off just prior to the announcement that JFK had been shot. There is a story about a certain well-known network newscaster in Dallas making the call back to his NY newsroom, then ripping the pay phone out of the wall to keep other reporters from using it to get to their newsrooms. So there may have been real reasons for the news delay. Anyway, the market was shut down with the Dow suffering only a 3% decline. After remaining closed one additional day, the market continued its upward climb for the next 3 years. While a member of the Pacific Stock Exchange, I witnessed the same momentary "front-running" when Reagan was shot on March 30, 1981. On that day something "felt" amiss when we suddenly got hit will an avalanche of sell orders. Minutes later, the news tape announced that the president had been shot. But like in the Kennedy situation, the market dipped momentarily, then continued its rally. In these two cases, the message was inconsequential, financially speaking. After giving numerous examples of what market signals are and how they've fared over the years, Insana asks his most thought-provoking question: "So why was it that most investors, all the world's politicians...failed to notice trouble signs on the horizon? Once again, it was the failure of many observers to pay attention to the market's ominous message."  The implication being that the rain clouds were forming but nobody took notice. The answer is simple yet unsatisfying: As long as we listen to what "they" say instead of watching what "they" do, we will always fall victim to "their" market. What Insana is making a case for is a market discipline termed Technical Analysis. It looks at market action, valuing above all else the constant interplay between the supply and demand for a any tradable entity, and considers Fundamental Analysis (Wall Street research) as so much hot air. It is not a particularly popular stance, but it is much closer to allying yourself with reality than anything else.

The other 12 reviews existing at the time of this writing indicate that most reviewers think Batra's work is either great or trash. I suspect our views are strongly influenced by our predisposition.

This is a great book. First, it gives the layman an overview of how economies work -- how employment, debt, deficit, inflation, interest rates, stock prices, etc. are all related. I have long been looking for that and appreciate finally having a satisfying "big picture".

Second, Batra summarizes historical statistics which show a cyclic behavior of inflation and money growth, and imply that we are due for a decade of strong inflation, something useful to know.

Third, he presents a nice summary of what happened to other faltering countries in the world in the decade of the 1990s, whose stories I have desired to know but not seen in the media.

Fourth, he predicts a USA stock market crash in the period late 1999 to early 2000, followed by a long-term inflationary depression.

I was indifferent to or in disagreement with some parts of the book, but his insights into how economics works, national economic histories, and his warning about the US economic "bubble" about to burst make it a valuable book. I believe his analysis, and have taken his advice to heart. Only time will tell whether this is a great book or trash.

Most economists agree the objective of capitalistic development is the accumulation of capital. Where the economists differ is in their interpretation if this is a good or bad thing. Ravi Batra belongs to a novel school of thought that thinks this is a good thing at the outset but becomes a bad thing over time. This is because the class of guardians of capital, the owners, builds wealth through sheer prudence, foresight and courage in productive enterprise. Over time, as wealth passes to generations raised in luxury, the virtues degenerate. At the same time, the class of owners becomes a mix of old money and new. Where the new money has some of the old virtues, the old money now has none of it. The social (including work) ethic degenerates over time. At some stage, it doesn't matter HOW one makes and expands a fortune but only that you DO. Part of the transformation of capitalism is its evolution from productive enterprise to financial activities, where unearned gains become the propagating mechanism for the class of wealthy. Speculative bubbles begin to take over in financial markets from time to time. When the bubbles burst, as they inevitably will, the social consensus is challenged. Each burst becomes a bigger challenge to maintain the order. At some state, a class of military leaders wrest control to re-establish order.

As for the bubbles, when share prices surge the wealth of those with capital in the markets expands in relation to the rest who do not own wealth. The amount of wealth becomes more unevenly distributed, even if a middle class has some. The growing divergence accelerates the decline in the social ethic. Also, helping the decline is the faltering social responsibility of employers to their workers, which promotes a feeling of alienation by the HAVE-NOTS to the HAVES.

In short, what Dr. Batra is writing about is a larger historical dynamic or evolution. He is not a technical analyst looking at stock charts for signs of a bullish reversal, or an economist strictly measuring the development in terms of the mix of fiscal and monetary policies. His frame of reference is much bigger than that. He is writing about a historical context based on his interpretation. At the same time, what really makes his work so fascinating, is his deep insight into the larger collective philosophy. He writes about the degeneration in social and environmental conditions associated with a human project based on a materialistic worldview. He proposes a much better framework for human beings, a spiritual framework, based on the ideas of his great mentor, PR Sarkar.

It is in this way that his books should be approached. Exact timing is difficult for all, but at least with Dr. Batra's work it is possible to gain an understanding of the social dynamic behind the developments and to see a positive way forward. Dr. Batra's works are a profound contribution. That said, his predictions have been quite accurate. Just look at a chart of stock prices from 1980 to 2002. It clearly reveals a huge bubble from 1983 to 1999 and a plunge since then. We are seeing the bursting before our very eyes. This is the history he his describing and explaining. That is a great achievement indeed!

Maybe the timing wasn't quite right but Ravi's points are being born out in the market and in the overall economy at this time. While those who acted as though the bubble would never burst are licking their wounds, my husband and I, who took Batra's advice, have not lost a penny but instead have continued to make modest but consistent gains in the value of our portfolio. It is true that we got out of the market a few months too early, but we probably would not have made as much during those months as we would have lost had we been invested when the market plummeted a couple of weeks ago.

We are not economists, but what Batra says makes sense to us. If wages remain relatively unchanged while wealth is being concentrated in the hands of those at the top and if at the same time productivity increases - then how is the economy to sustain itself? Certainly, a collapse can be delayed by borrowing, but that fix is temporary at best and will in the end cause greater misery.

We are grateful for Batra's clarity and foresight, and we only hope that everyone will assess his/her financial condition on August 14th right along with the CEOs of the top 1000.

I found this book a waste of my time.

Contrary to what some may think, there is a secret to good investing, and Glassman does a good job of explaining it. It's an open secret, to be sure, but one most so-called investors ignore: generating cash (for example, through day trading and other high-turnover practices) does not lead to the accumulation of wealth. Only through a disciplined approach to investing, involving (1) the accumulation of quality stocks, mutual funds, and/or other preferred financial assets, and (2) patience that allows time to let these investments work for you, will it be possible to achieve your financial goals. Following the heady, market-drive craze of the late 1990s, it's a secret that even the most seasoned investor would do well to reconsider.

No question, it's the new or inexperienced investor who has the most to gain from a read of this book. For one thing, Glassman's review of the many investment vehicles available today provides, in one readily accessible volume, the information needed to make intelligent decisions regarding asset allocation. And the explanations that attend the presentation are written in language that even the novice will understand.

If you've already made your millions and view playing the market as a pastime, this book is not for you. But if you believe that there must be a better way to select from among the many investment theories touted and to identify, and invest in, preferred investment vehicles appropriate to your age and temperament, purchase of The Secret Code of the Superior Investor may well be among the best investments you could make.

In a world that starts each business day with someone broadcasting from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as if investing were some sort of a horse race, this book is much more than enjoyable. It's important to read.

Glassman takes the fear, uncertainty and doubt out of investing heightened if not created by the broadcast media's constant focus on what the fed, economy or Osama Bin Lauden will or won't do next and what it all means for the price of stocks tomorrow. He deals with the implied "action imperative" using what amounts to a logical, easy to read and understand three step process. First, he provides basic, factual and well-researched information that every investor should know. Second, he details a sound and time-tested investment strategy that anyone can understand. Third, he provides the information sources, tips and techniques to execute against that strategy. The sort of how to information that moves concept to action. Along the way he explains what is important to consider and to ignore. He also offers some really good advice on things to avoid.

The Secret Code of the Superior Investor has the rare qualities of being informative, enjoyable and actionable. The content is as superb as the writing. I am 53 years old, financially independent and retired. I have been an investor for nearly 30 years and read many books on investing. Take it from me. Glassman nailed it! Turn off the TV and read this book.